ARLINGTON, Texas — Tuesday night, the "Chase for 62" – which lasted a week but felt like a lifetime – ended in Arlington when New York Yankees star slugger Aaron Judge broke the American League record with his 62nd home run of the regular season.
And Yankees fans are turning a cool moment into an even bigger positive.
Let's explain.
Judge hit his 61st to tie fellow Yankee Roger Maris' on Sept. 28 against the Toronto Blue Jays, and the journey ever since seemed like an eternity, in large part due to the abundance of cut-ins during other sporting event broadcasts.
Every at bat Judge has had since Sept. 28 has been under a microscope in the sports world, much to the dismay of college football fans who saw Judge get walked multiple times against the Baltimore Orioles.
Judge was walked by the Orioles four times and hit by a pitch twice in three games in Baltimore. Fans grew restless for a myriad of reasons. In the Yankees' final series of the regular season, the Texas Rangers did not shy away from staring down the barrel of Judge.
Obviously no one wants to be "that pitcher" on the other side of history. In this case, it was Jesús Tinoco, but it very easily could have been any of the Rangers' pitchers.
Still, they did not shy away and pitched to Judge ... not around him. The Yankees fans noticed, and they're appreciative.
In a Yankees subreddit thread, a fan posted a link to the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation, encouraging other fans to donate "for being a great team and actually pitching to Judge this series and allowing him a chance to break the record unlike other teams."
The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation has focused its resources on programs and grants for youth in the areas of baseball, health, education, and crisis assistance for nearly 30 years, according to its website. The program says it impacts more than 13,000 children each year. You can donate to the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation here.
In the comments, fans have said they're ending their donation with "62 cents" in honor of Judge's 62nd home run. Many fans have said they donated $99.62 or $62.99, including Judge's jersey number in the nod.
Others have done $62.62 or simply just tacked on 62 cents to whatever dollar amount they wish to donate.
In a statement to WFAA, the Texas Rangers confirmed it has "received a number of donations over the past 12 hours with '62' as a common theme." The Rangers said it has received a lot of positive feedback with the donations connected to Judge's home run, including this one provided by the team:
"In honor of the Rangers players, coaches, staff and fans for being downright hospitable and gracious folks. Thanks for hosting the Yanks and Judge for HR #62. I'm glad he hit it in the company of such fine people."
"I thought it was really creative and we really appreciate whoever was on Yankees Reddit to come up with that idea. We'll make sure that we take those funds and make a big impact on our programs in our community," said Karin Morris, the executive director of the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation.
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